1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to computer-aided instruction (CAI). More specifically, the present invention provides a method, computer program, and data processing system for an interactive online discussion of lecture notes.
2. Description of Related Art
Since the introduction of the World Wide Web and the subsequent commercialization of the Internet, the world has become a considerably more connected place. No longer bound to the primitive communications interfaces of the past, the Internet is now host to a variety of powerful communications media, including interactive hypertext browsing (the World Wide Web), instant messaging, streaming video and audio, and multimedia electronic mail.
Hypertext is a method of organizing textual and graphical information on a computer screen. Information is organized into “pages,” which resemble printed pages in a book or (perhaps more accurately) printed scrolls (since a hypertext page can be of any length). The primary difference between hypertext and the printed word, however, lies in the fact that hypertext pages can contain links. That is, a portion of a hypertext document, such as a phrase or a graphic, may be made sensitive to clicking by the mouse such that when the user clicks on that portion, the user is directed to a new page or a different section of the current page. For instance, it is a common practice to make bibliographic citations into links. When a user clicks on one of these citations, the cited text appears on the screen. Hypertext documents are displayed using a program called a “browser.”
The largest and best-known repository of hypertext documents is the World Wide Web, a loosely bound collection of publicly accessible hypertext documents stored on computers the world over. The World Wide Web has become the preferred Internet medium for publishable information as well as for providing such interactive features as online shopping—to the extent that the terms Internet and World Wide Web are virtually synonymous to some.
Browsers can download hypertext documents from a server with the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HTTP allows a browser to request documents or files from a server and receive a response. In addition, when browser users enter information into a form embedded into a hypertext page, the browser transmits the information to a server using HTTP. Form information can then be passed along to applications residing on the server by way of the Common Gateway Interface (CGI). Those applications can then return a result, which may be written in HTML. Thus, the Internet and Internet technologies such as the World Wide Web combine the precision and permanence of print media with much of the interactivity of oral conversation.
It is now commonplace for instructors, particularly at the university level, to upload lecture notes or other study materials to a website for the benefit of their students. Such uploaded materials are generally static, however. They are basically no different than materials handed out in a classroom on paper. As computers, and in particular the Internet, provide an ideal platform for interactive study, it is desirable, therefore, to introduce a level of interactivity into instructors' lecture notes to enhance the learning experience.